Each weekend we highlight the most relevant stories Wired News has covered. To find out what's coming up, jump to The Week Ahead.
Code wants to be free: Apple waded into open-source waters and found them just a bit murky. The company said it would offer portions of the Mac OS X Server code to programmers, hoping they'll "help us make it the best technology -- collectively -- we know how to make."
But while many in the open-source community hailed the Apple license as a model for other companies, others weren't so sure. The chief complaint: that Apple could suspend use of the whole system in the event of a patent dispute.
PC Free on the bandwagon: The company that plans to bundle Net access with a fully rigged PC for US$40 a month said some of those systems would come with the Linux operating system.
Redmond's latest: Browsers were back in the news as Microsoft released Internet Explorer 5. Just as Windows 98 more or less updated Windows 95, IE5 upgrades its predecessor without making many radical shifts.
Two IE changes were noteworthy, however, in that they seemed intended to bolster Microsoft's antitrust defense: that it welcomes competition, and that the browser and the OS are one and the same.
And what of IE's "competition"? With no release date for Communicator 5.0 on the horizon, is Netscape waving a white flag in the browser war? No way, says the company, promising Gecko-equipped software that's both smaller and faster. Someday.
Kevin wants to be free: Cracker or hacker? Whatever he is, Kevin Mitnick brought his criminal case a step closer to resolution this week, when he entered a plea bargain with the Feds. Details are still sketchy, but Mitnick supporters said they won't quit their agitating until the man is actually free.
Dirty words: A filter made available to users of ICQ99, America Online's instant-message tool, has been withdrawn. Not only did Solid Oak Software accuse ICQ maker Mirabilis of illegally using its copyrighted code, but the word list in question blocked out sites such as the National Organization of Women, as well as any mention of "safe sex" and "gay rights."
The art of spam: "There is wisdom to be gleaned from these hucksters and sleazebags, if we are willing to listen." So says Manuel Labor, creators of C-SPAM, a Web site that sets junk email to classical music.
Fightin' words: Mark Cuban raised hackles with his comment that "MP3 will die." Shockingly, the broadcast.com chief seems to think streaming media is the future.
Listen up: When Microsoft embraces a new technology, it doesn't fool around. The company's latest target is digital audio. Strategic alliances, investments, and new technologies folded into Windows -- the blitzkrieg is on.
Underwhelmed: Sega hyped the new tools that are being made available for developers of Dreamcast, its next-generation game console. Developers were hardly wowed. "If the underlying platform sucks heavily, the tools don't matter," said one.
Broadband designs: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen said he'll pay US$600 million for a controlling stake in Go2Net, the Seattle-based portal player. Allen hopes to marry the company's services with his cable television operation, a la At Home-Excite -- and is reportedly contemplating an IPO.
That word again: Convergence is an old tech concept that's showing remarkable staying power. It popped up as the idea behind several deals this week, including Ciena's acquisitions; Nortel's networking scheme with Microsoft, Intel, and Hewlett-Packard; and NBC's plan to team up with Net ad firm 24/7 to sell bundled TV-Web ads.
Strength in numbers: Weary of losing business to the likes of Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com, independent bookstores said they'll launch a Web site of their own. The proposed BookSense.com site will include hundreds of indies' Web pages, linked to a searchable database of 1.6 million titles.
The written word: MacWeek, which has been published exclusively online since August under the moniker eMediaWeekly, said it will soon be out in a printable PDF format.
Done deal: The Federal Trade Commission approved the settlement of its antitrust case against Intel. The deal bars Intel from withholding key technical information when it is in a patent or intellectual-property dispute with a company.
Pantry overflow: Where do you put a 13-million-cubic-foot food stash? Backers of a Maine plan to stockpile food in case Y2K goes terribly wrong weren't able to answer that question. In Washington, the most pressing millennial concern centered on the computer that controls Medicare and welfare payments.
Acquisition antidote: The way Silicon Valley sees it, a simple accounting change that's under consideration could bring tech buyouts to a screeching halt. But as one of the bean-counters said, "If an acquisition makes good economic sense, the accounting shouldn't matter."
The Oscars they ain't: The Webbys were held in San Francisco, complete with hype. Of course, most of the excitement was manufactured by event organizers.
Jerry's orbit: The former Governor Moonbeam, Jerry Brown, is now mayor of Oakland, California. He sat down with our Christopher Jones to talk about his tech vision for the city -- and you might be surprised at how sensible he sounded.
Spacing out: Last year, Congress and the president told NASA to encourage private-sector involvement. Ain't happening so far. Those who made overtures to the space agency tell their stories of woe.
Meanwhile, the Mars Society said it hopes a simulation expedition done near the Arctic Circle may persuade NASA to send humans to the Red Planet.
Seal of approval: The Better Business Bureau followed Truste in certifying that Web sites adhere to privacy standards. The more the merrier, said one advocacy group, but another opined that the only real solution is federal regulation.
And speaking of regulation: US phone companies were ordered to post long-distance rate information "in an timely and easily accessible manner" on the Net. The Federal Communications Commission hopes this will help people figure out which deal is best for them.
Film Wars: George Lucas sees a future in which movies are shot with digital cameras, beamed via satellite to theaters, and permanently stored in digital archives. He'll be trying out the scheme with the new Star Wars movie. It's a vision that scares some people.
GM privacy snafu: A Web site that gave consumers a shot at winning a Pontiac could end up giving them a dose of spam or junk mail instead. Though the company said the site was secure, for three days it leaked the personal data of some 13,000 hopeful entrants. Oops. THE WEEK AHEAD
21 to 24 March, Scottsdale, Arizona: The ubiquitous Esther Dyson hosts this year's PC Forum, asking "Where's the Net ROI?" And if you don't know what ROI is, apparently the conference is not for you.
22 March, Los Angeles: A hearing is scheduled for Mitnick co-defendant Lewis DePayne.
22 to 25 March, Boston: It's the Internet Commerce Expo, with exhibitors galore and big-name keynoters, including Gingrich, Negroponte, and Berners-Lee.
23 March, Washington, DC: This is one auction that won't be on eBay. It's for broadband PCS licenses, and the FCC will run the show.
24 March: Bill Gates' latest literary effort, Business at the Speed of Thought, hits the stores.
